Celebrating A Friend's Life

 

 

When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter.

As you see him you will see yourself.
As you treat him you will treat yourself.
As you think of him you will think of yourself.
Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself, or lose yourself.
~ Acim

An Afrikaans guy named Peter

On Wednesday I had the most incredible conversation with a 69 year old Afrikaans guy. His name is Peter. We were discussing politics, family, what our country needs and for the most part, who we are. I don't know who first came up with this quote, but our conversation made me think of it "One of the problems with society is that too often blacks and whites overestimate the others desire to do them harm."  He was very honest about how apartheid worked in his favour, interestingly enough he grew up on one of the farms in KZN near my grandmothers house. I was there this December and driving past all the farms I couldn't help but think of Malema's nationalisation ideas. The Dlamini family has been living in that area for more than 100 years, but the farmland is still owned by white people. Back to Peter. He found me at this restaurant reading Mbeki's A Dream Deferred and asked if he could take a seat at my table. Immediately after he sat down we got to chatting. He asked me what I thought of the book and told me about Macintosh Polela's book, I should definitely get a copy. A very interesting thing that Peter said was that he thinks Malema's has a great skill of influencing people. If he only had the guidance and direction. He could be an influential driver to inspire young people to take control for their lives. I was touched when he shared with me the story of his sons suicide. It was a heart-breaking story that showed his humanity and vulnerability. More so when he spoke of how his other children and brother have left the continent. When he'd first sat down all I'd seen was a white old man, but as he said farewell I was touched by how little I often consider the "humanity" of those we see as white and privileged. The highlight of my day was when, as he walked away,Peter said: "Amanda, we need more people like you in this country."